Effectiveness of the Wilson Reading System used in Public School Training

The aim of this study was to determine whether special education pull-out programs with teachers trained in the multisensory instruction of phonological awareness and English word structure yield significant growth in reading and spelling skills. The present study examined the effectiveness of multisensory structured language teaching in public school settings using the Wilson Reading System. Data from pre and post tests of 220 language learning disabled students in grades 3-12 were analyzed. The results demonstrate significant student gains in word attack, reading comprehension, total reading, and spelling. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the Wilson Reading System with learning disabled students in public schools. Two concerns need to be addressed in a school system’s approach to Special Education: First, learning disabled students’ low reading abilities; and, second, their teachers’ lack of knowledge of multisensory structured language teaching. Most children identified as learning disabled lack basic reading skills (Forness and Kavale 1985) and thus have trouble in most subject areas. Their inclusion in regular classroom settings requires specific accommodations. Unfortunately, inclusion does not solve the learning disabled student(s)’ primary problem, an inability to read commensurate with their cognitive ability. Placing learning disabled students in total inclusion programs without teaching them to read, does not work. Most learning disabled students have an underlying deficit in phonological processing (Adams 1990; Stahl, Osborn & Lehr 1990; Stanovich 1982). Several studies have show learning disabled students are able to make significant gains in their basic reading and spelling skills when phonological awareness and total word structure are taught directly and systematically (Bradley & Bryant 1991; Felton 1993; Williams 1987). Reading and special education teachers working with LD students need to know the phonological structure of the English language and must be given specialized training to teach this structure in a direct, systematic, multisensory way. This brings us to our second concern, teacher training. According to Dr. Louisa Cook Moats, “the kind of expertise in language structure that is required of teachers for remediating and preventing reading problems” is lacking (Moats, 1994). Teachers have an insufficient grasp of spoken and written language structure (including phonological awareness and morphology) and do not know how to teach reading disabled students (Moats, 1994). The Wilson Reading System addresses both of these concerns by directly teaching phonological processing and the structure of the English Language to both